Whicker: USC QB Wittek eager to get started

Most USC fans already consider 2012 a grain in the sand, ready for the cleansing tide.

Saturday is the 2013 opener, a free shot, with a fresh prince to replace last Saturday's silent, rainy drive home from Pasadena.

Max Wittek has just washed in.

"I've been ready all season for this to happen, if it did," Wittek said, beaming in the sunshine Tuesday. "I'm looking forward to having fun out there."

Notre Dame is out there, ranked No. 1, with a defense that allows 10.1 points per game.

Notre Dame is also a road team in November, with a BCS championship game within its grasp and, consequently, a lot to lose.

Kansas State and Oklahoma State were in that position in 2011-12 and both lost, as did USC in 2006. Home losses bounced Oregon in 2011 and 2012, and West Virginia in 2007.

Those of us who have spent a generation screaming for a conventional playoff tournament have to admit that this weekly knockout round can be addictive.

On Saturday, Stanford's Zach Ertz either did or didn't possess a touchdown pass before his shoulder landed on the end line. During the tick-tock of the replay, several American precincts forgot to breathe.

When Stanford wound up winning, Alabama erupted – the Crimson Tide, losers only last week, were No. 2 again.

Another No. 2 was The Birmingham market, when the TV ratings were tabulated. It might not be a fair system, but there's guilty pleasure there.

The Irish will be carrying that weight Saturday. But Wittek won't be protecting anything.

"He's played in big games before," Matt Barkley said. "I don't think Max will be nervous or afraid of anything. I think he'll let it rip."

He already has. "We're going to win this ballgame," Wittek told a radio talk show on Tuesday.

Wittek was Barkley's successor at Mater Dei, in 2009, and took care of the final two USC drives after UCLA's Anthony Barr injured Barkley's shoulder in the fourth quarter. Wittek did not have to look for his helmet.

"I always have it in hand," he said, "with the new helmet rule (if a player loses his helmet, he must leave for at least one play). You know Matt always gets up slow, so I was expecting him to get up. I said, 'All right, Matt, here we go.' But then he stayed down.

"There was obviously a little bit of a shock factor. Matt's such a great leader. When he realized the situation, he texted me and said, 'Get ready. Let's go beat the Irish.' I've been watching him intently all season."

Obviously Barkley envisioned a resounding run down the tunnel, a 12th regular-season victory, one final baton in front of the band, and the Biggest Game. But it might be constructive for Wittek to have witnessed that, too, to see that a football life rarely adheres to the screenplay.

Wittek already has won his interior game. He edged Cody Kessler to the right to be No. 2.

"Sometimes it's good to be so young," Lane Kiffin said. "The team's been great. Robert (Woods) and Marqise (Lee) practiced as hard as they ever practiced today. Robert was making diving catches out there, even in the drills.

"He's a prototype pro-style quarterback. He's probably more comparable to Carson (Palmer), with the big arm and the size. He's already 240 pounds (and 6-foot-4) as a redshirt freshman."

All of these players are older, in football years, than they look. Barkley won at Ohio State when he was a true freshman. Wittek was a junior at Mater Dei that year, competing with Jack Doll for the starting job, when he darted 46 yards at the end of a 99-yard drive to save Mater Dei against Cypress.

"He started the next week against Corona Centennial," said Mater Dei offensive coordinator Dave Money. "So it's kind of like this week."

Centennial of Corona had Division I talent bursting from every yard line. Wittek and the Monarchs still won, 31-13, with Wittek hitting Victor Blackwell on a 78-yard touchdown.

As a senior Wittek took the Monarchs to the Pac-5 semifinals but lost to Mission Viejo.

"He has nothing to lose in this one," Monarchs coach Bruce Rollinson said. "And he has a little extra dimension with how well he can run. They ought to tell Woods and Lee just to keep running. This kid can throw it 70 yards easy."

"I think it will be an advantage," Wittek said, "that they don't know anything about me. They have a great defense, with playmakers all over the field. But they have soft spots like any defense, and it's our job to find them."

Kiffin admitted the Trojans are winding up a "disaster month." Saturday is their New Year's Day, and Max Wittek their latest bouncy bundle.